The Big Beach Ball Festival in Aberdeen

UK is known for a million of things but if you are less than 25 years old and you crave for alternative rock music you certainly know Britain for its rock festivals too, the Glastonbury Festival and Reading and Leeds Festival among others. It is there where tens of thousands of youth from all around Europe gather annually to drink… as much as they can (beer is the predominant type of alcoholic drink) while losing themselves to the ecstatic rhythms of rock music. If you want to take a taste of the festival’s history then I would recommend Julian Temple’s documentary Glastonbury.

Since 2005, when the documentary was shot, many more artists have brought waves of enthusiasm to young music enthusiasts. Given the fact that last year the festival was not held due to the London Summer Olympics something tells me that many are already impatiently waiting for this year’s big rock party!

Apart from these gigantic festivals though, there are many more festivals of smaller size in many parts of the island. For example, on the 5^th of May The Big Beach Ball takes place in Aberdeen, Scotland. Who would say no to some fine rock tunes by the beach in Scotland? Surely not anyone that wishes to stay updated with the latest trends of alternative music and hipster attitudes!

The festival takes place at the legendary Beach Ballroom, a beautiful art deco building ran by the Aberdeen City Council. Bands like The Beatles, The Small Faces, Pink Floyd and Cream have performed in the Beach Ballroom in the – not so remote – past. In case you want to grab a taste of a temple of rock ‘n’ roll that continues to rock till today, then book your Travelodge hotel in Aberdeen as soon as possible, not to somehow miss your chance to party!

Miaoux Miaoux

This year, a number of international DJ’s and Scottish groups will perform at the Big Beach Ball including Inner City, Octave One, The Xcerts, Miaoux Miaoux (nice name, eh!?), Lockah, the Little Kicks, Nevada Base and Marionettes, among other fancy choices. What is more, DJ Jackmaster in particular, is expected to set fire to around 3.000 people with the latest dance hits.

The festival is organized for the second year in a row. One might argue that The Big Beach Ball is a relatively new festival, but surely is an ambitious and up to date one! Not to mention that it is much less 'sweaty' than Glastonbury! Plus, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to decide to stay some more in Aberdeen and discover the city, which is, after all, one of Scotland’s biggest cities. Maybe a good idea would have also been for a festival to be held inside a Scottish castle; just imagine… the aura of a remote medieval past combined with rock ‘n’ roll tunes and endless amount of beers! Hic! However, now, that I am thinking of it, I could also do with that legendary Beach Ballroom. After all, it is not bad at all to step on the footsteps of The Beatles!

I dream that we'll always be together in electrical dreams

“Vlasta is reproaching to me that I am a dreamer. It means that I do not see thing the way they are. No, I disagree, I do see things the way they are but except for seeing the visible things I also see the invisible ones. Imagined ideas are not something useless. There are precisely these that turn our houses into homes”

 - Milan Kundera, The Joke 

And there are precisely our dreams that turn our planet into a wonderful endless universe to explore and awaiting to be discovered, into that void of endless beauty and marvels surprising us at every step. Whether we take a walk in our surrounding neighborhood or catch the plane to go and check on some interesting sites on the other side of the planet, our dreamy eyes turn the space into a place – our place, our home, our universe of wonders and amazement!

Allow me, please, to tell you what I am dreaming about… I dream about a world where we all walk freely, srns the world into our neighborhood and our neighborhood into a whole world infused with life and wonderful surprises. It would all be so lonely if not reaching out for one another! And it would all be so boring to explore it for ourselves!

I dream about living in a world where people have differences, as differences bring that diversity that makes us wonder even more, triggering thirst for knowledge. But I equally dream about a world of dialogue, as through dialogue we reach for one another, share and, so, find out even more about the world we live in, building a marvelous world of knowledge.

In this imaginary world of mine, people love to debate (using as many arguments as one can and always come up with findings that encompass all sides and facets, turning shadow into light and grey to green or brightest colorful way of living, as some of the most hidden secrets in life reside in all these paradoxes … for instance, I had this revelation while visiting what they call The Grey City. While lodged at Travelodge hotel in Aberdeen, lying on my bed, looking at the ceiling, I reflected at the marvelous day I had just had in this wonderful place that you might think it is gray and boring, if judging from its nickname. Not at all! Amazing gardens of a greener than green, many lively parks; as for the granite buildings, these are all works of art and wonders of architecture and style! After all, Mies van der Rohe had a point when stating that 'God is in the detail', as details make the difference that brings the many shades and twists of living, pimping it up at every step! 

And so, I keep on dreaming, enjoying my dream-life experience, as this is precisely what gives me hope and keeps me on going! I dream of seeing people caring daily about each other and about the dreams they drive them through. I dream of the world where all of us people want to achieve exactly what they dream of, in the pursuit of happiness that is inscribed into the mere act of living. What would be of the world today if, for instance, electricity had not been just another dream that so many worked for and for turning it into a palpable reality, so that the whole world and generations to come could live in light and comfort! A dream changed the perspective of time, as it brought daylight into the night and it shed light on many matters that would have stayed in darkness otherwise. A dream turned into facts brought the whole world together! As, due to an electrical dream, railways were built and a whole network changed the perspective upon space. It all got closer, we all got friendlier, eager to share and dream together! Now we have airplanes, and, as the title of the song states it, “we'll always be together in electrical dreams”.

A dream came true is a joy for the whole world and only a dream came true brings change. As for the dreamer, his joy is to share, as fulfillment and satisfaction are being acquired only by sharing dreams, hopes and nice feelings. Cheers!

Fisherman's Blues Dreaming Escape

My dreams are as clear as the Mediterranean blue sky: to travel everywhere and to see the world. I would like you (all of you, people!) to join me! By seeing the world I only hope to understand it better, to feel life in my veins the way I feel the breeze in my hair and the sun on my face. I sometimes feel that Europe is my playground, as I love the whole of it and it feels so familiar! It’s where my dreams originate from in the first place: my dreams draw from the glorious history of Europe, ever since its mythological birth - marvelous Ancient marbles shining in the Mediterranean light are to account for the birth of the Old Continent , known once as 'The Old World', as if a spring of dreams that were to be spread and to build New Worlds by just being turned into visible reality, in the pursuit of happiness as a plain and simple purpose in one's life. Ever since then, so many things have happened - things that gave meaning to our modern lives… I can only think now of the United States and all I can say is that my dreams head towards that direction way too often! My dreams (those born in Europe) head towards that direction: the U.S.!? I often wish I could cross all of the States by bike and live my own American dream! Again and again! Route 66, baby!

Some other times, I wish I could take life more or less seriously, I wish I could go on studying … forever. Lying on the pathway of my dreams I often find myself in Oxford. And I first fly there, not knowing absolutely anyone from before … and then I picture myself lodged in a Travelodge Oxford hotel, lying in my bed thinking of my first day at the university... How will it be? Will I make friends? Will I manage to dig deep into the secrets of knowledge and how deep will I dive? Will I step on the steps of Oxford’s old students, many enlightened thinkers among them, Nobel Prize winners as we all know it well … And what will I bring new to humanity? Will I get to discover the place where some of my favorite writers – dreamers themselves, I gather used to hang out? T S Eliot, John Le Carre, Aldous Huxley, C S Lewis, J R R Tolkien, just to mention a few... oh boy… what a dream!

While I dream, I try to cherish what I have… and these feel plenty as I offer, as they feel fewer and scarce if I only keep to myself. So, allow me, please, to share with you the sun, the sky, good healthy laughter, expectations, wishes and desires, rhythms and music, deeply rooted beliefs awaiting to be challenged, wine and roses, ladies and gentlemen that you see in the window of a fancy restaurant, girls and boys camping on a pristine beach on their fluffy clouds of sand and all the knowledge and teaching all these bring along. Wish I could cherish these and many more to all those ready to take their path and keep walking, sightseeing the wonders of life, diving into the beauty of journeys on roads that never end, but keep on taking you to truths you might have never thought of before. Since it is mostly about the journey and not the destination, one will find out on the way the meaning of walking lightly. There is meaning in the lyrics of a song I have always loved:

“I will be the fisherman
With light in my head,
With you in my arms... “

Let's all sail together, dance on the music of my dreams! The steps will bring us joy! Enjoy!